Customer Reviews:
 Great Camera October 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have shot with Cannon and Nikon, but by far I like this camera more than any of the other ones I have shot it! Good price, great camera
Great camera but... October 3, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I've owned many digital cameras- the epson 1 MP, kodak dc290 2MP, minolta dimage 7 5MP, canon powershot S3 6MP, and now the pentax K200D.
I love this camera, and I enjoy taking pictures with it. Its a great dSLR and I purchased it mostly because of the value pentax offers for the price(especially the built in shake reduction).
Cons:
-I am annoyed that there is not a dedicated button for the changing the shooting mode(single, continuous, timer, remote control, auto bracketing). Everytime I want to use the remote, or the self timer, I have to press the function button, then navigate the menus. It isn't a big deal, but it adds a second or two to something that should take only 2 seconds to begin with.
-this camera does not have an intervalometer. I was used to taking time lapse photographs with my previous 2 cameras, and I was surprised that this camera does not have this function. I imagine that an intervalometer can be implemented by software very easily, so I assume that it was left out so that more advanced photographers would pay more for the K20D.
Pros:
-The shake reduction really works very well. I've taken 1 second test shots handheld and the blur was reduced dramatically. The shake stabilization does however emit a high frequency sound compared to the optical stabilization systems used by canon.
-The build quality of this camera is top rate. Most people don't appreciate build quality these days, but if you just pick this thing up and handle it, you'll realize that it is built to last. Modern electronics usually go obsolete before anyone notices the build quality, but pentax took the bet that some people do notice a difference. It helps me have a peace of mind to know that the camera is splash proof and dust proof.
Photokina 2008 has come and gone. Nikon and canon both have released dSLRs with video capability. I bought my camera in june 2008, and now with the current camera marketin october 2008, I would still have chosen the K200d for the price. I enjoyed the high quality video capabilities of my canon powershot S3 and I hope that when I replace my dSLR in about 5-10 years, pentax will have a competitive dSLR with 1080P video capability. If price wasn't an issue, I would get the canon 5D mark II with 1080P video, but since money is an issue, I am very very happy with the K200D.
For anyone with a budget large enough to buy the K200D or K20D dSLR with a few lenses, the unanimous advice I've found online was to purchase a cheaper dSLR with higher quality lenses. Lenses will maintain their value over a long period of time because lens technology does not advance as fast as electronics technology. Some pentax lenses like the 31mm f1.8 prime is considered by many as THE best autofocus lens ever made. If you want another reason to go for pentax, that would be it- The best pentax prime lenses are also the best lenses that money can buy.
great camera for the price September 28, 2008
i have had this camera for a few months now. i think its fantastic for the price. the image stabilization works well - i regularly shoot at 1/15. the camera feels very substantial - much more so than the equivalent canon and nikon pieces. the kit lens is very good. the flash is very powerful. i loved shooting RAW for the first time and am totally taken away by its potential - i am never going to shoot with a camera without RAW again! i have had no issues with color and such - although i have heard professional reviews that have complained about it.
some problems that i saw - the fps rate is really low and seems lower than the specified 2.8. Shooting 3 shots in auto-bracket mode seems to take forever. the software for converting RAW is not that great. i had also bought a remote control from some asian site - and didn't have much success using it - although that likely the remote's fault and not the camera. and i am not a great fan of having to go through multiple clicks to do simple things like changing ISO speed. Canon controls are superior in this respect.
Pentax K200D w/18-55mm lens September 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excelent camera! Great pictures and easy to use. The colors are life-like and the ability to adjust focus and depth of field are a plus!
Great, solid, great pix, flexible, no jaggies September 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you are considering a DSLR I highly recommend it.
I have been using my K200D for 4 months now and love it. I compared several cameras (Nikon D60, Canon EOS XTi, Olympus 520), and then ordered the K200D after reading many online reviews (DPReview, CameraLabs and others).
This is my first DSLR, after having used a film SLR (Canon) for many years and digital point and shoot cameras (Kodak and Canon) for the last few.
The Pentax feels so much more solid than the other DSLRs in my hands, a piece of real equipment. The camera's features were superior to the Nikon (tho you can never go wrong with Nikon), and the image quality per reviews and my experience has been great. The price point on Amazon made the decision a no-brainer, and I have not been disappointed.
The camera operates in any range from point-and-shoot auto everything (including flash) down to full manual, and incorporates many scene modes in addition to the program, shutter priority, aperture priority, and fixed ISO program modes. Settings such as white balance (including custom WB), self timer, continuous shooting and more are rapidly accessed via the function button followed by one of the cursor keys, and there is a switch on the body at the base of the lens to switch to manual focus. Anti-shake is built into the body, keeping lenses simple, reliable and less expensive, a plus over Canon and Nikon. Sensor size is APS-C (a plus over Olympus), and I have read it is the same sensor used in the Nikon D60, which appears to be born out in online reviews.
Only thing lacking IMO is a focus assist lamp for low light focusing, and that can be remedied with a Pentax external flash which has the focus assist lamp. Really it has been only in unfairly low light conditions where focus has failed me (dimly lit indoor displays viewed from a moving cart - like some of the dimmest portions of rides in Disney World). If you are bent on live view that is not here either, but realize live view as implemented on DSLRs has many limitations anyway. The viewfinder on the K200D is very good, BTW, and it is a better tool than live view - with the exception perhaps of the occasional shot with the camera held far away from your face, perhaps shooting over a crowd.
I have read some comments that the JPGs produced by the K200D at default settings are overly sharp, exhibiting "jaggies" on edges. I have tried a few times to reproduce this to see how changing the JPG quality settings would affect it, but have been unable to see the effect at all. BTW the same article indicated shooting RAW the K200D was fantastic - if you process your photos on the PC and don't mind the extra storage for RAW, then the JPG issue is moot.
Added bonus: if you have other Pentax K mount lenses they will work here, and if you have the older screw mount M42 lenses there are K mount adapters available to make them work too. So unlike the Canon FD glass cluttering my closet, your old Pentax lenses are still much more than paper weights. Browse ebay and see how many older Pentax lenses are available for a great price if you can handle manual focus for those special times you need the lens, like for low light. And - unlike Canon or Nikon - Pentax's in-body image stabilization still works with the old lenses! If you have Pentax-A lenses, exposure is still fully auto and only focus is manual - not bad at all.
Check Mark Roberts' Pentax Lens Compatibility page at http://www.robertstech.com/compat.htm. For detail on using older fully manual lenses see the article "K100D (Super) Pictorial guide to using manual lenses" at http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&message=24921509.
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